Leading Role of Climate in Outlining Contemporary Architecture (Case Study: Dezfool Houses in Qajar Era)

The province of Khuzestan and ancient city of Dezfool are from among the most prosperous regions of Iran. Inhistorical perspective, there are lots of traditional monuments which show the quality of rich and valuable history ofthis ancient region. Dezfool has a hot semi-arid climate while in Köppen climate classification called “BSh”. Dezfoolhas extremely hot summers and mild winters, therefore the weather in summer is harsh. The level of rainfall ishigher than most of southern Iran, especially in winter to spring time. In other words, harsh climatic circumstancesof Dezfool made a necessity for its traditional architecture to be closer and closer to compensating outdoorsituation. In traditional architecture of Iran, buildings were planned by adoption of different approaches in order tofit the needs and demands of its inhabitants. Thus rethinking about the meaning of “Home” in valuable culture ofIran, might be considered as a source of inspiration for contemporary architecture in general, and for contemporaryarchitecture of developing countries such as Iran especially. It is very important to explain that nowadays morethan ever, learning from eco-friendly concept of traditional architecture is significant to make a better future forcontemporary architecture of developing countries such as Iran.This paper is to show the leading role of climate in outlining contemporary architecture. Therefore eleven exemplarof Dezfool houses in Qajar era selected by purpose as case studies of the paper. The research team organizeda questionnaire for data gathering from among eleven invaluable houses which selected by purpose in Dezfool.Focus discussion group (FDG) was set in order to interpret the questionnaire in which five experts gathered tocollaborate and find the possibility of role climatic issues in outlining contemporary architecture of Dezfool in Qajarera. Contemporary architecture of Dezfool in Qajar era might be called one the most prosperous periods in whichconsiderable number of valuable buildings are made by the hand of its wise architects. Literature review of thepaper shows that in Iranian culture, home is an illustration of peace and prosperity for family members to keepthem safe and relax especially in harsh climate such as south-west of Iran. It is very important to explain thatsome classical issues like balance between building and urban scale, separation of public and private sectors ofhouse, spatial sequence and socio-cultural could easily be identified in traditional architecture of Iran especially inKhuzestan and Dezfool in Qajar era.The results of the paper show that the main parts of Dezfool contemporary houses such as entrance, vestibuleand corridor, yard, porch, hall, bedroom, belvedere etc. show that all these parts have a lot to do with climatewhile those are from among the most leading elements of architectural identity in this region. The results indicatethat some classical issues like balance between building and urban scale, separation of public and private sectorsof the house, spatial sequence and socio-cultural issues have a lot to do with climate in contemporary houses ofDezfool in Qajar era.... Keywords: Climate, Contemporary Architecture, Dezfool Houses, Qajar Era.